Heretofore there have been many different types of coffee makers provided and a number of various types of automatic coffee makers have been made and sold commercially in large quantities. The present invention relates especially to coffee makers for use in vehicles to facilitate providing hot coffee to the vehicle occupants. Insofar as I am aware, some coffee maker accessories have been provided heretofore for vehicles such as the liquid heater shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,231,713 and another heater unit as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,661,015. These heaters have not been completely satisfactory as they do not perform the full automatic coffee making process. Also, all of these automatic coffee makers as provided heretofore have been somewhat sizable, or they have involved a number of rather expensive components, or the coffee makers have not been of sturdy construction and of compact size, or the coffee makers have not been easy to operate and control when in use, or they may have been objectionable for other reasons.
In view of the foregoing, it is the general object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved automatic coffee maker for a vehicle and especially to one having a built in reservoir and controls to provide an automatic coffee brewing cycle.
Another object of the invention is to utilize a movable starter control member to close an electrical energy supply circuit for the coffee maker and at the same time to control or prevent flow of water from a reservoir area into a heating chamber in the apparatus when the apparatus is energized.
Another object of the invention is to utilize positive acting electrical controls in an automatic coffee maker for automatically making a quantity of hot water in the vehicle and dispensing it to a coffee making and providing area.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a relatively uncomplicated, inexpensive automatic coffee maker for use in a vehicle and to provide practical, efficiently operating electrical controls for the coffee maker and the functioning thereof so that hot coffee can be easily and readily provided to the vehicle operator or passengers.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for making coffee and wherein a continuously open tube vents back into the water reservoir and wherein water is released from a storage reservoir for flow to a predetermined volume closed container and then when the unit is actuated, to release small quantities from the confined volume storage chamber to a localized heating tube for steaming and pumping action to move the water up to a coffee making area.
Another object of the invention is to simplify and reduce the size of a heating area in the coffee producer, and to provide a simplified electrical control circuit for the coffee maker.
Yet another object of the invention is to reduce the cost of the coffee maker and components thereof and to provide a positive method of operation of the coffee maker.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method of making coffee providing the steps of releasing small volumes of water from a storage chamber, heating the water in a localized portion of the apparatus and preventing its return flow to the confined volume storage chamber, and pumping the heated water to a coffee making area for discharge therein by pressure generated in the heating area in such confined volume of water.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be made more apparent as the specification proceeds.